I am wondering if a 6.5 jap can be converted to a 260 Remington.Also what kind of safety can be put on these jap rifles.I like the little gun its 5 pounds .I just hate paying $50 for 6.5 jap shells that i can never find.I can just use up my 243 brass for this one if its possible.I have heard of this being done.

properly? not without replacing the barrel... safety? that's the problem with the arisaka, aint it?

man, the only answer it to buy 100 pieces of reloading brass, dies, and shellholder

I already have the dies brass and some ammo.I just like the 260 alot better.I didnt want to spend a bunch on it.I already had it drilled and tapped for a scope.Its a fun gun to toe and shoot.The brass is $1 each now which is high for such a little case.I guess the brass would take 10 loadings.The headspace needs adjusting .Thats why i wanted to just change it to 260 Rem.

Most people that converted the 6.5X50 to a simple 6.5x257Rob. Or basically a 6.5x57mauser. I don't have the full dimensions on a 6.5jab case. The 260 will clean up the body area without set back. I don't know if you might have a ring in the neck or not. 6.5x55 might also be an option. Best way would be setback the barrel then you run up your expense.

Since you already have the dies and appear to reload grafs sells Prvi 6.5jap brass primed for $39.99/100. In stock. http://www.grafs.com/product/216973 Simply adjust your die to set your brass for prober headspace.

As to the safety. Timney at least did make a trigger with safety. Midway list them for OK backorder. But then you are adding $100 to a rifle you don't want to spend $$ on. I used a 6.5 for several years in HS and college. I just lived with the pain in the a$$ safety they are made with.

A 6.5 Arisaka was my first center fire bolt action rifle. You think brass is a pita nowadays, imagine what it was like being a broke kid back in the 70's!

Anyway, I had gotten a couple of boxes of ammo that had been reformed out of 30-06 brass. I was never able to do it with my rockchucker but in retrospect it may have been my lube back then, or improper lubing as I didn't know a lot of what I was doing.....

What I have wondered since is if a person could fire form 243 shells with pistol powder and corn meal into decent 6.5 rounds.

Also, I kinda liked the safety on mine. I had an early model of the gun as it had very nice machine work done and the real cool spirograph machining on the safety knob. You could walk with the safety on and your thumb on the safety and just pop it off with a press and a push sideways.

What Mark said about the Jap action.

I still have the 6.5x257 Roberts reamer and dies I first used back in the '60s, and still occasionally build a rifle chambered for it.
Regards, Joe

I have two or three professionally sporterized Arisakas in 300 Savage with Springfield barrels that I bought for $50 just to get the Redfield peep sights.

They put a block of wood as a spacer in the mag well. They painted the block black.

This is just a fun little gun.The barrel is just over 16" .Its like carring a 10-22 Ruger.I just dont like that 6.5 jap brass .It is semirimmed by the way.I way wonding if the 260 remington would work without messing with the bolt.The 260 Rem is not all that much bigger than the 6.5 jap.Plus I have seen 260 Rem shells not that many but 6.5 jap ammo is like finding a needle in a haystack if you loose your ammo on a hunting trip flying.I do have 6.5x55 dies and brass no gun.It seems like it would be too big for that action.My barrel is also thin as heck .It heats up after three shots .Its a good little deer gun I just thought a cheap 260 which does not exist these days would be lots of fun.

FYI!! Back in "66" I did a 6.5x.284 form an 6.5 Arasaka. No magazine problems as I remember.

Also you might try using reformed .220 Swift cases. roger

When I was young in the '50s the loading manual talk was of taking 6.5 Japs and running a .257 Roberts reamer in to make a 6.5/.257 rifle. Pop a .257 case over the expander ball and load a 6.5 bullet...

The warning, not too common, slug your barrel first. Some Jap QC was POOR. Barrels that a .264 slug would not fill. Never much accuracy there possible.

6.5 Jap is a semi rimmed and action can be converted to about any rimmed round. Many used for .30/30 wildcats, .219 Don Wasp for instance. Not sure. .308 family might be a trifle short. LUCK.

Cool reading the replies. I had an 6.5 Arisaka rebarreled to 260 Remington. Here are the problems I had and what worked and what didn't. I'm amazed at the poster that said he did one up to a 6.5/284 and had no magazine problems. Well I say then you must have used a Type 99 7.7 Jap action because I first of all couldn't get but 3 260 Remingtons in my magazine. It took hours of work opening up the feed rail a little at a time, in addition to changing out the magazine follower. It now will hold more and the feeding isn't 100 percent. The 260 is a much fatter cartridge then the 6.5 Jap. As far as the bolt handling the larger and different 260 Remington...NO PROBLEM WHAT SO EVER. If I had it to do over I think I'd rebarreled it to another 6.5 cartridge that was more narrow then the 260 Rem. I did throat it out further then the very short SAAMI spec throat and now can load 140 gr bullets out there keeping them out of the powder capacity. Also the action and magazine are long enough to handle the longer rounds. If anyone said anything about safety of the action, it's one of the strongest actions out there. The safety isn't so great, but not horrible such as the Mosin Nagant. Trigger, well it's a military trigger don't expect much. My rifle shoots very well. I'm satisfied with the accuracy.

quote:

Originally posted by starmetal:
I'm amazed at the poster that said he did one up to a 6.5/284 and had no magazine problems. Well I say then you must have used a Type 99 7.7 Jap action

What the action was I can not say at this time, but it had a military 6.5 barrel on it that was somewhat of a rarity. This was pointed out to me by a collector of Japanese military weapons. It also had a high chromium content, was a little hard to machine and would not take a good bluing.
So perhaps you are right, I'm relateing apples to oranges. Also if I remember correctly the collector made mention that this rifle was produced in occupied Korea and itself was quite rare.Now this happened 43 years ago so all that I do and don't remember may not be the best. However that barrel was rechambered as I stated and made a fantastic deer slayer once you could find a bullet that wouldn't spin it's jacket off. roger

quote:

Originally posted by bartsche:

quote:

Originally posted by starmetal:
I'm amazed at the poster that said he did one up to a 6.5/284 and had no magazine problems. Well I say then you must have used a Type 99 7.7 Jap action

What the action was I can not say at this time, but it had a military 6.5 barrel on it that was somewhat of a rarity. This was pointed out to me by a collector of Japanese military weapons. It also had a high chromium content, was a little hard to machine and would not take a good bluing.
So perhaps you are right, I'm relateing apples to oranges. Also if I remember correctly the collector made mention that this rifle was produced in occupied Korea and itself was quite rare.Now this happened 43 years ago so all that I do and don't remember may not be the best. However that barrel was rechambered as I stated and made a fantastic deer slayer once you could find a bullet that wouldn't spin it's jacket off. roger

It's hard to say what you had there. Never know what they did to any Jap action in Korea. Hell might have been a 7.7 and they put a 6.5 barrel on it. The actions are damn near identical. The hardware on the Type 38 6.5's like the trigger guard were milled and they were stamped on the Type 99 7.7's. I believe the Italians made some rifles for Japan too.

Yes the steel was very hard on those Jap actions.

You might have the chamber cast and take a look at how long the throat is.
I have a cast of one of my rifles and there is no step at the end of the case mouth in the chamber.
It is just a long continuous lead angle to the rifling that is about .75 long. I suspect that a 6.5X55 might be the best round to re chamber with. It has some body taper and is long enough to clean up all of the old chamber. Next best would be the 6.5X257 wildcat.

SR4759 is right. I have the old barrel out of my rifle, which was shot out, and there is no step at the case mouth just like he said. The other 6.5 cartridge I considered was the 6.5x55 Swede. You could rent a reamer (fairly cheap too) and ream out the chamber without having to dismount the barrel. You would need an extension for the reamer. I think the Swede case would fit the magazine better then the fatter 260 Rem.

Well, I have a 6.5 jap rechambered to to 260, no ring or anything in the chamber, but a pain in the ass to get to feed.
But, I've made loads of 6.5 jap cases out of ..... 35 rem brass. It's a whisker short, and the rim is a touch smaller, none of which seems to matter. I have a bubba'd jap that was D&T, bolt handle pounded down ect. That thing will shoot under an inch with 140 sierra's, with 35 brass or jap brass. 35 brass, once fired is easy to find, around here anyway. Most fellows ( shooters)give it away here.

I have a Jap Type 38 action with no barrel.
It feeds 6.5X55 like it was made for it.
The bolt face and extractor are sloppy with 6.5 Jap and way to big for .35 Remington.

The best cases would be made out of .303 British brass but that is too much work for me.

quote:

Originally posted by SR4759:
I have a Jap Type 38 action with no barrel.
It feeds 6.5X55 like it was made for it.
The bolt face and extractor are sloppy with 6.5 Jap and way to big for .35 Remington.

The best cases would be made out of .303 British brass but that is too much work for me.

How many Swede cartridges can you put in the magazine? Like mentioned mine's a 260 Rem and the bolt handles it great.

I saw an Arisaka today at the Puyallup show Saturday only section with a birdseye maple stock, barrel rib, and vari x II 3x9x40 for $400.


That birdseye stock was striking.

quote:

Originally posted by starmetal:

quote:

Originally posted by SR4759:
I have a Jap Type 38 action with no barrel.
It feeds 6.5X55 like it was made for it.
The bolt face and extractor are sloppy with 6.5 Jap and way to big for .35 Remington.

The best cases would be made out of .303 British brass but that is too much work for me.

How many Swede cartridges can you put in the magazine? Like mentioned mine's a 260 Rem and the bolt handles it great.

Mine will hold 5 rounds of 6.5X55 but #5 is tight enough that I would never put that many in it. Three or 4 would be enough to shoot holes in paper.

I have a Type 38 barreled action with a passable barrel. I need to put it in a stock one of these days. What serves as a recoil lug on these actions?

quote:

Originally posted by Marc:
I have a Type 38 barreled action with a passable barrel. I need to put it in a stock one of these days. What serves as a recoil lug on these actions?

On the front receiver action screw you will notice just a little round protrusion that the screw goes into. On the original military stock there is a little square steel insert with a hole in it that protrusion mates into. That's it. Remember you're not talking about a hard recoiling caliber. When I restocked my build I retained that square lug just for the added support. I also glass bedded my action.

You may be able to see that lug in the diagram here:

http://www.e-gunparts.com/prod...Model=1040zTYPE%2038

How hard is it to form the 6.5 jap from the 35 Remington.I can get a ton of those cases.I like the little gun as far as its size and weight.Its about the size of a Ruger 10-22.I bought the gun for $50 from my cousin.The dies were $60 ,drilling and tapping $60,two boxes of factory ammo $60 ,100 pcs of 6.5 brass $60 its $100 now,and a box of 6.5mm Rem bullets for $44 .Its fun to shoot.I cant get my safety to engauge.It trys to but wont hold in safe.I could shot it all day long but after three shots its hot as fire.It shoots about 3" groups at 100 yards on a good day.

quote:

three shots its hot as fire.It shoots about 3" groups at 100 yards on a good day.

Mine got hot too. It wasn't a MOA gun but was such a delight to carry in the woods. My safety worked just fine but chambering a round always felt like shifting a tractor.

quote:

Originally posted by iiranger:
<SNIP>

6.5 Jap is a semi rimmed and action can be converted to about any rimmed round. Many used for .30/30 wildcats, .219 Don Wasp for instance. Not sure. .308 family might be a trifle short. LUCK.

Does anyone have a type 38 rifle they could see if 30/30 or especially 25/35 rounds would fit and feed?

I've always been curious about a 25/35 and this would sure make a nice little platform to do that with if they fit and feed.

quote:

Originally posted by dgr416:
How hard is it to form the 6.5 jap from the 35 Remington.I can get a ton of those cases.I like the little gun as far as its size and weight.Its about the size of a Ruger 10-22.I bought the gun for $50 from my cousin.The dies were $60 ,drilling and tapping $60,two boxes of factory ammo $60 ,100 pcs of 6.5 brass $60 its $100 now,and a box of 6.5mm Rem bullets for $44 .Its fun to shoot.I cant get my safety to engauge.It trys to but wont hold in safe.I could shot it all day long but after three shots its hot as fire.It shoots about 3" groups at 100 yards on a good day.

I have formed a few just for grins and it is pretty easy if you do it in several steps.

1. 35 Rem FL die with no expander.
2. A 30 cal neck die such as a .308 or similar. You may want to cut it off to get the shoulder back close to finised location.
3. 6.5 Jap FL die

IMHO, The .220 Swift case is by far a better case to use than a .35 Reminton case. The base dia. of the Remington can be as much as .010" larger than the 6.5 Arasaka and unless turned down can be a bear to swage. The 35 is also.080" shorter which is significant and creates a rather short neck. roger

With Grafs selling it for 39.99/100 I sure wouldn't take the time to form it.

My little 6.5x50 was a sporterized carbine. Original stock with removed wood and cut off forend. Short and light. The barrel was so thin that it took about 3 shots and you couldn't hold it. 4 and it started walking across the paper. Used my little lee hand loader for practice and factory for hunting. I was stupid and tried to remove the barrel and really twisted the action.

I will pick up another 200 from graf.I have a bunch of extra 220 swift.I will try it for fun.I am going to load up some loads to go plinking.It is very fun to shoot very little recoil.Some of my light loads were like shooting a 22 mag it felt like.I need to try some of the 155 gr Lapula mega tip bullets i have.I have a bunch of assorted 6.5 bullets also.Thanks for the info .

DGR: For several years back in the 60s one of the rifles I used on mule deer was a 6.5 Carcano , all most the twin of the Arasaka. It was light easy to carry and had low recoil and it killed deer right now. Enjoy the 6.5 X50. roger

I loaded up the 160 pcs of 6.5 jap brass I had with different 6.5 mm bullets from 120 gr to 155 gr.I tried to make some 6.5 jap from 220 swift on my dillion .Its a big no go.I guess it needs a tapered 6.5 plug to expand it.Hopefully I get a good load going.Its a fun rifle to tote and shoot.Its not a track driver but about as good as a 30-30 but even lighter.I wish I could get a load to shoot about 4" at 200 yards.That about the limit for this round for deer for me.I will order some brass about 100 more or so.If anyone has any accurate 6.5 jap reloads tell me thanks .

Speer 120 gr over 33.6 gr of H4895

From my old notes, didn't have a chrono back then but wasn't a hot load.